Ripples
by RhymeAndTreason
Summary: Lilith has her secrets. It would just cause problems if she ever told Corrin about them, so she doesn't.


Lilith dipped her feet in the water of the Nestrian canals that divided the castle in which she lived. The sensation of water on her bare skin calmed her and cleared her mind - something she was in dire need of. Questions were rising up in her mind, eating away at her.

Was it selfish of her, to withhold the truth of their connection from Corrin the way she did? Most certainly. Was it wrong? Probably, yes. Even still, Lilith did not tell him. How could she? She loved him, loved him so much her heart felt full to bursting. And he loved her, too. If he were ever to know that they were half-siblings, then what they had now, this romance, would be destroyed in an instant. Lilith was much too in love to countenance such a thing.

In hindsight, she ought to have told him earlier, as soon as she could've. Back in Valla, when he learned the truth of his birth, before all this began. She'd sworn an oath, though. That she would never tell Corrin of his father. Clinging to it even after he'd learned some of the truth on his own might have been silly, but that oath was her proof that she had not betrayed her father entirely, and she had feared it was the only thing keeping her alive at times. Something like that, could not be thrown away so easily.

Failing that, she ought to have told him when he confessed his love, after the war's end, after their father's death, but he had caught her off-guard. She had been too flustered to think clearly and too infatuated to refuse. Even then, she'd realized that she shouldn't have accepted, but at that moment, all her dreams had seemed to have come true. The man she loved had confessed that he loved her the same; how could she have rejected him?

"Is there something on your mind, Lilith?"

The sound of her husband's voice as he approached her from behind did little to ease her doubt. She loved him too much to ever endanger their relationship, but she also loved him too much to lie to him like this. Nonetheless, his presence was pleasant and welcome, and even if it did not help to resolve her inner conflict, it at least distracted her from it.

Corrin sat down beside her, and Lilith smiled warmly at him, pushing her doubts to the very back of her mind.

"No, it's nothing." She assured him.

He smiled back.

"Are you sure? You looked upset." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a loving embrace, "you know you can talk to me about anything, right? If there's anything bothering you, you don't have to face it alone."

Lilith felt her face start to burn. She couldn't see her own face, but she was certain that it was redder than her husband's eyes.

"R-really, it's nothing, I'm fine. You needn't to worry about me so much, my lor- my love."

She felt silly, blushing and stammering like an adolescent girl talking to her first crush.

… Which, she supposed, she really was, in a way. Still and all, it was childish and undignified in a way that simply did not befit a noble dragon like her.

When Corrin leaned in and kissed her lips, Lilith gave up and allowed herself to become a blushing, flustered mess. As did Corrin. After only a most fleeting moment, they both leaned back, blushing profusely. Both struggled to string together a coherent sequence of words.

"I- I- I… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- all of a sudden-"

"N-no! No! That was… It was nice. Um."

They both fell silent and avoided each other's eyes.

Honestly, Lilith thought, this was ridiculous. She and Corrin were married now, and yet they still acted like awkward children.

She took a deep breath, held his hands in hers, and pulled him into a kiss. Corrin gave a muffled cry of surprise, but quickly began to return the action in kind.

This time, neither of them pulled away.

Lilith let go of Corrin's hands and wrapped her arms around him.

Together, they slipped over the edge of the canal and disappeared beneath the flowing water.

The ripples were the only remaining sign that the two dragons had ever been there at all.

It was much later that Lilith and Corrin emerged from the water. Corrin, assuming his draconic aspect, pulled himself up onto dry land, while Lilith, in her human guise, lay draped across his back, wringing water out of her dress.

Corrin began to shine, and his scales receded, replaced once more by fine clothing befitting Vallian royalty (and pale, human skin beneath that), and the both of them collapsed onto the shore, soaking wet, exhausted, and altogether very satisfied. They lay there on their sides, gazing into each others' eyes, hand in hand, for some time.

Lilith felt like she was going to be sick. It was not the first time. Before, she could not understand it. She loved her husband no less and no differently than ever before. Why should expressing that love make her want to vomit?

Now, she realized, it was because of the secrets she was keeping from him.

It was because she loved him far too much to continue lying to him. Even if it meant the end, to keep such a terrible secret from the man she loved was not a sin she could forgive herself for.

"Lilith? Are you feeling alright?" Corrin, clearly, noticed that something was wrong with her. He could be quite dense at times, but he never failed to notice when Lilith was unwell – in body or in mind – however well she thought she was hiding it. It was one of a great many things she loved about him.

Lilith withdrew her hands from his grasp and shifted into a sitting position. The feelings of doubt were tearing her up inside, but she knew that she had to do this.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

"My love, there's something I must tell you. Something that I should have told you very long ago."

From there, the words flowed from her mouth like water running down a river. Lilith told Corrin everything – of their father, of how his human aspect had saved her life and how his dragon aspect had created her. Of how he had lived and how he had died. Of why she had come to the Northern Fortress in the first place, begging to be allowed to work there. Of the promise she had made.

And then she had said all that she had to say and fell silent.

For some time, Corrin, too, said nothing.

And then-

Lilith gasped in shock as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Lilith, I love you," he whispered into her ear, "nothing can change that, not now. I wish you'd told me all of this sooner, but I understand why you didn't."

He stopped momentarily to take a deep breath, then continued.

"And even if you had told me earlier… I don't think it would have changed anything at all. I've loved you for so long now… I'm not sure I could've stopped. Even if I had known the truth."

Lilith didn't know how to react. Happily, of course, but she couldn't find a way to properly express the feelings of joy and relief and love that filled her heart.

She settled for collapsing into her husband's arms, sobbing tears of joy.

* * *

Lilith hummed to herself as she went about her morning routine.

It occurred to her that she had not left the astral castle in some time, though with good reason. As long as it had been, she still had not recovered enough strength to maintain her human guise in the outside world.

In short, leaving meant transforming into her dragon form. That was something she could not do just now.

After all… She had no idea what such a transformation would do to the child that had been growing inside of her these past six months. Kanna, she and Corrin had decided to name them. She wouldn't dare do anything that could possibly harm her baby, so it was here in the castle she stayed. Perhaps if her draconic self were more like Corrin's, closer in size and shape to a human, she might have considered it – although probably still refrained from doing so – but the tiny, tiny form of an Astral Dragon presented far too much of a change to risk.

A tiny jolt of magic pricked her senses, and a smile spread across her face. That would be her husband arriving in the astral plane, back from whatever royal duties had been keeping him away these past few days.

Well, it was a good thing that she had already been planning to make quite a large breakfast.

She quickly finished dressing herself, and began to make her way towards the kitchen. Hopefully, if she got there fast enough and did enough work before Corrin made his way over, she could convince him to let her do the cooking, rather than have him insist she not trouble herself and take over. He was a wonderful husband, but his cooking skills left a lot to be desired, in spite of her many attempts to teach him how to be a better cook.

Lilith laughed softly. It was a good life. Everything she had ever dreamed of having and more, really. More than she deserved, she was sure, and probably that would catch up with her someday, but for now she intended to enjoy it for as long as she possibly could.


End file.
